EMU Tools Up for Fall Semester

According to the calendar, it’s still summer, but Eastern Mennonite University is gearing up for the start of the 2006 fall semester.

The annual faculty-staff conference will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 16-17, on the theme, “Mindfully Serving Together.” Wednesday sessions will be held at Massanetta Springs Conference Center east of Harrisonburg, and Thursday’s program will be held in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

John LeMond will give three presentations on the program theme during the conference. He will speak 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Dr. LeMond is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has lived in Asia for 22 years, serving first in Taiwan and for the past 15 years in Hong Kong, where he currently is professor of church history and world religions at Lutheran Theological Seminary and director of the Bridge and Dialogue Division of the Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre.

The Bridge and Dialogue Division that LeMond works with arranges programs in religious dialogue, operates a Christian guesthouse called “Ascension House,” serving backpackers and travelors from around the world, and offers ecumenical Sunday worship services and prayer times using the Taize style of meditation.

Both days of the conference will include worship led by Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music. There will also be a time for recreation, an ice cream social with storytelling and a cholesterol screening.

A picnic for all employees and their families will be held on the front lawn of campus Thursday evening.